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Geothermal Escapism
Plot On his last day before embarking on his world travels, the group bids farewell to Troy in the study room. Putting a happy spin on the occasion, Annie gives Troy a universal translator for communicating in all the different languages Troy will encounter. Britta admonishes the others to not make light of the opportunity to truly express how much they will miss Troy but is interrupted by one of Dean Pelton's announcements. The Dean explains that Abed, conspicuously absent from the study group's Bon Voyage party, has a going-away present for Troy: A schoolwide game of hot lava. In order to encourage everyone to participate, Abed then announces that the last survivor of the game will win his first edition of the comic book Space Clone, appraised at $50,000. In the faculty lounge, Professor Duncan carefully make his way across overturned furniture in search of leftover food. Britta enters and greets Duncan, explaining that she's staying in the game not for the prize but because she wants to talk to Abed. She's worried the lava game is enabling him to avoid facing Troy's departure. More interested in the prize, Duncan attacks Britta but, before he reaches her, he chair Duncan was about to step on is knocked over and he falls to the ground. Britta turns to see her rescuers: Jeff and Annie. Britta agrees to join their alliance and they begin to make their way through the halls by "centipeding" with chairs. Britta repeats her fears to Jeff and Annie that the lava game is Abed's way to put off saying farewell to Troy. Jeff dismisses her theory as he spots some loose chairs, a valuable commodity in the hot lava game. As they approach, several students pop out of the nearby lockers, surrounding the trio. Chang emerges as the leader of the "Locker Boys" and demands chairs and food before he forces Britta, Jeff and Annie onto the floor. Troy and Abed enter the scene from around the hallway corner and threaten Chang to back off. The Locker Boys are quickly intimidated by the best friends' broom handling skills until a vehicle, a large teacher's desk propelled by fire extinguishers and driven by Professor Hickey, careens around another corner at the hallway's end. Hickey makes quick work of the Locker Boys as Abed makes plans to meet Jeff and Annie at Shirley Island. Britta encourages Abed to take the opportunity to say goodbye to Troy but Abed instructs Troy to leave Britta stranded in the hallway. Left alone in the path of Hickey, Britta braces herself for the worst. Instead, Hickey takes pity on her situation and invites Britta aboard. Troy and Abed arrive at Shirley Island, joining Jeff and Annie in the peaceful demilitarized oasis in the cafeteria. Shirley welcomes them but turns less friendly when Abed starts to question her about something called "the orb". Troy mentions to Abed that he regrets how they treated Britta, especially on his "last day" but Abed doesn't seem to understand the phrase. They are interrupted again by Hickey who, along with his army of "chair-walkers", threatens to push or nudge everyone onto the floor. Alongside Hickey, Britta calls out to the Island's inhabitants to quit playing childish games to hide from their feelings about Troy's imminent departure. Hickey's forces attack and the ensuing battle forces an evacuation of Shirley Island. Both sides take heavy casualties as, inside the Island, Abed continues to question Shirley about the orb. She finally relents and pulls away a blanket to reveal a large plastic mound at the heart of the Island. Outside, Britta squares off against Jeff and manages to de-chair him. Suddenly, Troy and Abed emerge from the Island but inside the orb, a human-sized inflatable hamster ball that allows freedom of movement while protecting them from the floor. They demolish the rest of Hickey's combatants and face off against Hickey himself. Hickey dodges their attack but slices the plastic wall of the orb with a knife. Troy and Abed retreat out of the cafeteria and are pursued by Hickey and Britta as the orb slowly deflates. Britta continues shouting at them about the need to deal with their grief. Troy and Abed roll down a stairway to the basement and flee the crumpled orb. Abed suggests escaping to the vents where they can continue to play forever but Troy favors making a final stand because the game has to end eventually. Abed breaks down and admits that it's not a game for him, he really sees lava instead of the floor. He's scared of how his life will change without Troy and the lava will only go away if Troy doesn't leave. Hickey and Britta slide down the stairs on a bookcase and begin to aggressively therapize until Troy relates that the lava is real to Abed. Britta quickly backs off but Hickey starts to knock over the shelves onto which Troy and Abed are holding. Troy's shelf stays upright while Britta shoves Hickey onto the floor and Abed jumps to a rafter. Abed realizes that the floor is only lava because he refuses to let go of Troy and decides to fall to the ground. Britta and Troy clamber over to Abed, who lies motionless on the floor. They deduce that even thought the floor isn't lava to Abed anymore, he is still "pretend dead". Frustrated by his failure to save Abed, Troy prepares to forfeit the game but Britta stops him. She is convinced that since Abed is only fake dead, she can fake fix him. Inspired by the comic book prize, she suggests fake cloning Abed and, with Troy's help, improvises a pretend device that creates a perfect clone of Abed. Abed sits up and tells them that he's not a perfect clone: he's missing Abed's wild emotionality and is now able to let Troy go. Troy admits to being scared about leaving as well so Abed suggests letting his clone leave instead. Troy agrees and falls back into the "lava", leaving Britta the winner. Outside the library, Troy prepares to say goodbye to the study group as his sailing boat pulls up behind them. Britta tells him she's excited for the experiences he will encounter on his trip. Annie tells him how lucky she is to have grown so close to Troy and he playfully regrets that he ignored her in high school. Jeff confides that he has never left the state of Colorado and Troy's adventure makes him cooler than himself. Troy then thanks Shirley for looking out for him and being the badass of the group. "Clone Abed" informs "Clone Troy" that the cloning process included homing pigeon DNA which gives him a compulsion to return. Looking up at the Childish Tycoon, Jeff worries that Troy will have trouble sailing alone but Troy responds that Pierce's will arranged for someone to join the trip to verify Troys compliance. LeVar Burton then appears from inside the ship and invites Troy on board. LeVar worries that Troy will have trouble interacting with him based on their last meeting but Troy explains that since he is a clone, it won't be a problem. The rig pulls away and Troy and the study group wave goodbye. End Tag Troy asks LaVar Burton questions about Star Trek but, rather than criticisms of various episodes, he asks about the minutiae of on-set life. Recurring themes Continuity *'That just happened:' This episode deals with Troy's departure which was announced at the end of the previous episode, "Cooperative Polygraphy". *'Returning students:' Fat Neil, Garrett, Vicki, Magnitude, Leonard, and Star-Burns participate in the game. *'Previously:' **The Community Webisode series "Study Break" was the first time the study group tried to play a game of lava. **In the Season Two episode "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking", Troy was catatonic in the presence of LeVar Burton. **A version of the Styx song Come Sail Away plays as Troy boards the Childish Tycoon and leaves Greendale. Troy once mentioned in the Season One episode "Debate 109" that the song makes him cry. Though he doesn't cry in this episode, the song plays during the part of the episode he might be expected to tear up: the farewell. Running gags *'Raging against the machine:' Britta regrets the homogenization of world culture due to American imperialism. *'Troy and Abed in the morning:' The duo sing "Troy and Abed in a bubble" while zorbing. *'Britta'd it:' Britta catches herself before Britta'ing her goodbye to Troy. Pop culture references *'Shout out:' **Annie mentions the "reverse Danny Thomas" as the name for a way to move around on chairs without touching the floor. **Abed mentions the character Keyser Söze, a pseudonym for Kevin Spacey's character in The Usual Suspects. *'IMDb:' Abed wasn't a fan of the climax of The Jewel of the Nile. *'TV Guide:' Troy asks LeVar Burton inconsequential questions about Star Trek. *'Name that tune:' Aimee Mann's cover of Come Sail Away plays at the end of the episode. Meta references *'Homage:' Most of the episode takes place in a dystopian/fantasy environment inspired by films such as Mad Max and Hook. *'IRL': Magnitude proclaims that he is actually British. The actor who portrays him, Luke Youngblood, is British. *'Use your allusion:' **Chang and his "locker boys" are dressed up like Rufio and the lost boys from the film Hook. Quotes Production }} Gallery 5X5 Promo pic1.jpg 5X5 Promo pic2.jpg 5X5 Promo pic3.jpg 5X5 Promo pic4.jpg 5X5 Promo pic5.jpg 5X5 Promo pic6.jpg 5X5 Promo pic7.jpg External links *Tim Saccardo twitter Category:Season 5 Episodes Category:Community Episodes